Chowdhury, G.G.; Chowdhury, S.: Introduction to digital libraries (2003)
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- Footnote
- Rez. in: JASIST 55(2004) no.2, S.178-179 (M.-Y. Kan): "In their latest book, Chowdhury and Chowdhury have written an introductory text an digital libraries, primarily targeting "students researching digital libraries as part of information and library science, as well as computer science, courses" (p. xiv). It is an ambitious work that surveys many of the broad topics in digital libraries (DL) while highlighting completed and ongoing DL research in many parts of the world. With the revamping of Library and Information Science (LIS) Curriculums to focus an information technology, many LIS schools are now teaching DL topics either as an independent course or as part of an existing one. Instructors of these courses have in many cases used supplementary texts and compeed readers from journals and conference materials, possibly because they feel that a suitable textbook has yet to be written. A solid, principal textbook for digital libraries is sorely needed to provide a critical, evaluative synthesis of DL literature. It is with this in mind that I believe Introduction to Digital Libraries was written. An introductory text an any Cross-disciplinary topic is bound to have conflicting limitations and expectations from its adherents who come from different backgrounds. This is the rase in the development of DL Curriculum, in which both LIS and computer science schools are actively involved. Compiling a useful secondary source in such Cross-disciplinary areas is challenging; it requires that jargon from each contributing field be carefully explained and respected, while providing thought-provoking material to broaden student perspectives. In my view, the book's breadth certainly encompasses the whole of what an introduction to DL needs, but it is hampered by a lack of focus from catering to such disparate needs. For example, LIS students will need to know which key aspects differentiate digital library metadata from traditional metadata while computer science students will need to learn the basics of vector spare and probabilistic information retrieval. However, the text does not give enough detail an either subject and thus even introductory students will need to go beyond the book and consult primary sources. In this respect, the book's 307 pages of content are too short to do justice to such a broad field of study.
This book covers all of the primary areas in the DL Curriculum as suggested by T. Saracevic and M. Dalbello's (2001) and A. Spink and C. Cool's (1999) D-Lib articles an DL education. In fact, the book's coverage is quite broad; it includes a Superset of recommended topics, offering a chapter an professional issues (recommended in Spink and Cool) as well as three chapters devoted to DL research. The book comes with a comprehensive list of references and an index, allowing readers to easily locate a specific topic or research project of interest. Each chapter also begins with a short outline of the chapter. As an additional plus, the book is quite heavily Cross-referenced, allowing easy navigation across topics. The only drawback with regard to supplementary materials is that it Lacks a glossary that world be a helpful reference to students needing a reference guide to DL terminology. The book's organization is well thought out and each chapter stands independently of the others, facilitating instruction by parts. While not officially delineated into three parts, the book's fifteen chapters are logically organized as such. Chapters 2 and 3 form the first part, which surveys various DLs and DL research initiatives. The second and core part of the book examines the workings of a DL along various dimensions, from its design to its eventual implementation and deployment. The third part brings together extended topics that relate to a deployed DL: its preservation, evaluation, and relationship to the larger social content. Chapter 1 defines digital libraries and discusses the scope of the materials covered in the book. The authors posit that the meaning of digital library is best explained by its sample characteristics rather than by definition, noting that it has largely been shaped by the melding of the research and information professions. This reveals two primary facets of the DL: an "emphasis an digital content" coming from an engineering and computer science perspective as well as an "emphasis an services" coming from library and information professionals (pp. 4-5). The book's organization mirrors this dichotomy, focusing an the core aspects of content in the earlier chapters and retuming to the service perspective in later chapters.
Chapter 2 examines the variety and breadth of DL implementations and collections through a well-balanced selection of 20 DLs. The authors make a useful classification of the various types of DLs into seven categories and give a brief synopsis of two or three examples from each category. These categories include historical, national, and university DLs, as well as DLs for special materials and research. Chapter 3 examines research efforts in digital libraries, concentrating an the three eLib initiatives in the UK and the two Digital Libraries Initiatives in the United States. The chapter also offers some details an joint research between the UK and the United States (the NSF/JISC jointly funded programs), Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. While both of these chapters do an admirable job of surveying the DL landscape, the breadth and variety of materials need to be encapsulated in a coherent summary that illustrates the commonality of their approaches and their key differences that have been driven by aspects of their collections and audience. Unfortunately, this summary aspect is lacking here and elsewhere in the book. Chapter 2 does an admirable job of DL selection that showcases the variety of existing DLs, but 1 feel that Chapter 3's selection of research projects could be improved. The chapter's emphasis is clearly an UK-based research, devoting nine pages to it compared to six for EU-funded projects. While this emphasis could be favorable for UK courses, it hampers the chances of the text's adoption in other courses internationally. Chapter 4 begins the core part of the book by examining the DL from a design perspective. As a well-designed DL encompasses various practical and theoretical considerations, the chapter introduces much of the concepts that are elaborated an in later chapters. The Kahn/Wilensky and Lagoze/Fielding architectures are summarized in bullet points, and specific aspects of these frameworks are elaborated on. These include the choice between a federated or centralized search architecture (referencing Virginia Tech's NDLTD and Waikato's Greenstone) and level of interoperability (discussing UNIMARC and metadata harvesting). Special attention is paid to hybrid library design, with references to UK projects. A useful summary of recommended standards for DL design concludes the chapter.
Chapters 5 through 9 discuss the basic facets of DL implementation and use. Chapter 5, entitled "Collection management," distinguishes collection management from collection development. The authors give source selection criteria, distilled from Clayton and Gorman. The text then discusses the characteristics of several digital sources, including CD-ROMs, electronic books, electronic journals, and databases, and elaborates an the distribution and pricing issues involved in each. However, the following chapter an digitization is quite disappointing; 1 feel that its discussion is shallow and short, and offers only a glimpse of the difficulties of this task. The chapter contains a listing of multimedia file formats, which is explained clearly, omitting technical jargon. However, it could be improved by including more details about each fonnat's optimal use. Chapter 7, "Information organization, " surveys several DLs and highlights their adaptation of traditional classification and cataloging techniques. The chapter continues with a brief introduction to metadata, by first defining it and then discussiog major standards: the Dublin Core, the Warwick Framework and EAD. A discussion of markup languages such as SGML, HTML, and XML rounds off the chapter. A more engaging chapter follows. Dealing with information access and user interfaces, it begins by examining information needs and the seeking process, with particular attention to the difficulties of translating search needs into an actual search query. Guidelines for user interface design are presented, distilled from recommendations from Shneiderman, Byrd, and Croft. Some research user interfaces are highlighted to hint at the future of information finding, and major features of browsing and searching interfaces are shown through case studies of a number of DLs. Chapter 9 gives a layman's introduction to the classic models of information retrieval, and is written to emphasize each model's usability and features; the mathematical foundations have entirely been dispensed with. Multimedia retrieval, Z39.50, and issues with OPAC integration are briefly sketched, but details an the approaches to these problems are omitted. A dissatisfying chapter an preservation begins the third part an deployed DLs, which itemizes several preservation projects but does not identify the key points of each project. This weakness is offset by two solid chapters an DL services and social, economic, and legal issues. Here, the writing style of the text is more effective in surveying the pertinent issues. Chowdhury and Chowdhury write, " The importance of [reference] services has grown over time with the introduction of new technologies and services in libraries" (p. 228), emphasizing the central role that reference services have in DLs, and go an to discuss both free and fee-based services, and those housed as part of libraries as well as commercial services. The chapter an social issues examines the digital divide and also gives examples of institutions working to undo the divide: "Blackwells is making all 600 of its journals freely available to institutions within the Russian Federation" (p. 252). Key points in cost-models of electronic publishing and intellectual property rights are also discussed. Chowdhury and Chowdhury mention that "there is no legal deposit law to force the creators of digital information to submit a copy of every work to one or more designated institutions" for preservation (p. 265).
Chapter 13 an DL evaluation merges criteria from traditional library evaluation with criteria from user interface design and information retrieval. Quantitative, macro-evaluation techniques are emphasized, and again, some DL evaluation projects and reports are illustrated. A very brief chapter an the role of librarians in the DL follows, emphasizing that traditional reference skills are paramount to the success of the digital librarian, but that he should also be savvy in Web page and user interface design. A final chapter an research trends in digital libraries seems a bit incoherent. It mentions many of the previous chapters' topics, and would possibly be better organized if written as summary sections and distributed among the other chapters. The book's breadth is quite expansive, touching an both fundamental and advanced topics necessary to a well-rounded DL education. As the book is thoroughly referenced to DL and DL-related research projects, it serves as a useful starting point for those interested in more in depth learning. However, this breadth is also a weakness. In my opinion, the sheer number of research projects and papers surveyed leaves the authors little space to critique and summarize key issues. Many of the case studies are presented as itemized lists and not used to exemplify specific points. I feel that an introductory text should exercise some editorial and evaluative rights to create structure and organization for the uninitiated. Case studies should be carefully Chosen to exemplify the specific issues and differences and strengths highlighted. It is lamentable that in many of the descriptions of research projects, the authors tend to give more historical and funding Background than is necessary and miss out an giving a synthesis of the pertinent details.
Another weakness of the book is its favoritism towards the authors' own works. To a large extent, this bias is natural as the authors know their own works best. However, in an introductory text, it is critical to reference the most appropriate source and give a balanced view of the field. In this respect, 1 feel the book could be more objective in its selection of references and research projects. Introduction to Digital Libraries is definitely a book written for a purpose. LIS undergraduates and "practicing professionals who need to know about recent developments in the field of digital libraries" (p. xiv) will find this book a fine introduction, as it is clearly written and accessible to laymen, giving explanations without delving into terminology and math. As it surveys a large number of projects, it is also an ideal starting point for students to pick and investigate particular DL research projects. However, graduate LIS students who already have a solid understanding of library fundamentals as well as Computer science students may find this volume lacking in details. Alternative texts such as Lesk (1999) and Arms (2000) are possibly more suitable for those who need to investigate topics in depth. For the experienced practitioner or researcher delving into the DL field for the first time, the recent 2002 ARIST chapter by Fox and Urs may also be a suitable alternative. In their introduction, the authors ask, "What are digital libraries? How do they differ from online databases and search services? Will they replace print libraries? What impact will they have an people and the society?" (p. 3). To answer these questions, Chowdhury and Chowdhury offer a multitude of case studies to let the audience draw their own conclusions. To this end, it is my opinion that Introduction to Digital Libraries serves a useful purpose as a supplemental text in the digital library Curriculum but misses the mark of being an authoritative textbook."
